BUDAPEST (Commodity Online) : Nabucco Consortium said it will start the construction of the gas pipeline from the Caspian region to Europe.

Nabucco Managing Director Reinhard Mitschek said, We are aiming to start with the construction at the end of 2011 and we'll expect first gas to flow at the end of 2014. The Nabucco Consortium has no indication to shift the current timeline.

Mitschek also stressed, that the Pipeline will be filled step wise. To reach the maximum capacity of 31bcm/y would be expected in the year 2018.

For a large pipeline system like Nabucco it is necessary to raise the capacities stepwise. We'll start with 8 to 10bcm/y and we need the timeframe from 2014 to 2018 for the construction of additional compressor stations witch are the precondition for the plateau level.

The project envisages the gas transportation from the Caspian region and the Middle East to EU. Nabucco gas pipeline project is worth €7.9 billion.

Participants of the project are Austrian OMV, Hungarian MOL, Bulgarian Bulgargaz, Romanian Transgaz, Turkish Botas and German RWE companies. Each of participants has equal share to the amount of 16.67 percent.

Nabucco gas pipeline with a length about 3,300 kilometers, will begin from the Georgian-Turkish or the Iranian-Turkish border, then pass through Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary to Baumgarten gas distribution hub in Austria.